Cajun Music - Aural Analysis

Aural Analysis

Cajun music is relatively harsh with an infectious beat and a lot of forward drive, placing the accordion at the center. Besides the voices, only two melodic instruments are heard, the accordion and fiddle, but usually in the background can also be heard the high, clear tones of a metal triangle. The harmonies of Cajun music are simple, basically I, IV, and V, tonic, sub-dominant, and dominant with many tunes just using I and V. The melodic range is just one octave, rising a fifth above the tonic and descending a fourth below. Because the Cajun accordion is a diatonic instrument, i.e., do-re-mi or natural major scale, it can only play tunes in a few keys. For example, a "C" accordion is tuned such that the entire C scale is available on the ten buttons (over two octaves) and it can play a tune in the key of C with all the notes of the C scale available (C-D-E-F-G-A-B). A "C" accordion can also play a tune in the key of "G" however one note of the G scale will be missing which is F#. So tunes played in the key of G will not have an F# note. A "C" accordion can also play a few Cajun songs in the key of "F" however the Bb note will be missing. Also it can play in the key of "D" with a bluesy sound since the "F" natural note becomes a flat third or "minor" third in the key of D. However a skilled accordion player can play in these other keys and still make good music whereby the notes missing (because of the limitations of the diatonic tuning) are not needed by the melody. Since an instrument must match the singer's range, much Cajun singing is sung in the singer's upper range. The accordionist gives the vocal melody greater energy by repeating most notes.